Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
has a variety of
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s, including 123 state protected areas -
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
s,
wildlife area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s,
recreation area
A recreation area is a type of protected area designated in some jurisdictions.
By country Canada
In the province of British Columbia, recreation areas are lands set aside for recreational use. These lands are also being evaluated to determine w ...
s,
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s, and
state forest
A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory.
Background
The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example:
* In Australia, a ...
s. There are also federal and local level protected areas in the state. These levels interact to provide a variety of recreation opportunities and conservation schemes, sometimes in a small area. For instance,
Shabbona Lake State Park
Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area is an Illinois state park on in Shabbona Township, DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. Shabbona Lake is a man-made lake created in 1975 by damming the (Big) Indian Creek, a tributary of the Fox River. ...
lies in
DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb:
* DeKalb County, Alabama
* DeKalb County, Georgia
* DeKalb County, Illinois
* DeKalb County, Indiana
* DeKalb County, Missouri
...
which has its own
forest preserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in Illinois,
Cahokia
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south-w ...
, is protected as State-owned historic site.
Overview
Illinois has a wide variety of state owned and administered
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
s: state parks, state forests, state recreation areas, state fish and wildlife areas, state natural areas, and one state trail. They are all administered by the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines, ...
. In addition, several of the state historic sites, administered by its
Illinois Historic Preservation Division
The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with the duty of m ...
, also include nature reserves.
There is also a national forest,
Shawnee National Forest
The Shawnee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the Ozark and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, United States. Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) ...
, a national grassland,
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (MNTP) is a tallgrass prairie reserve and similarly preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the United States Forest Service. The first national tallgrass prairie ever designated in the U.S ...
, and several other sites administered by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
, including portions of National Trails. There are also
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...
s.
Federal protected areas
U.S. Wilderness Areas
*
Bald Knob Wilderness The Bald Knob Wilderness is a 5,973-acre (24.2 km²) parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is, by acreage, the second largest wilderness area located within the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located within the Sha ...
*
Bay Creek Wilderness The Bay Creek Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Shawnee National Forest in Pope County, Illinois. The nearest town of any size is Eddyville.
Second-growth wilderness
As wit ...
*
Burden Falls Wilderness
The Burden Falls Wilderness is a 3,775-acre (15.3 km2) unit of the Shawnee National Forest. It is located in northwestern Pope County and southwestern Saline County, Illinois. The wilderness is characterized by road-less second-growth har ...
*
Clear Springs Wilderness
The Clear Springs Wilderness is a 4,730-acre (19.1 km²) parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It contains the LaRue-Pine Hills Ecological Area, a National Natural Landmark noted for a large and diverse population ...
*
Crab Orchard Wilderness The Crab Orchard Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Williamson, Union, and Jackson counties in Illinois.
Second-growth wilderness
As ...
*
Garden of the Gods Wilderness
The Garden of the Gods Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Shawnee National Forest in Hardin, Pope, Saline, and Gallatin counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The neares ...
*
Lusk Creek Wilderness
The Lusk Creek Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Shawnee National Forest in Pope County, Illinois. The nearest town of any size is Eddyville, Illinois. It includes the Lu ...
*
Panther Den Wilderness
The Panther Den Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Shawnee National Forest in Union County in the U.S. state of Illinois.
Panther Den Wilderness is the smallest of eight Wi ...
National Forest Service
*
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (MNTP) is a tallgrass prairie reserve and similarly preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the United States Forest Service. The first national tallgrass prairie ever designated in the U.S ...
-
*
Shawnee National Forest
The Shawnee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the Ozark and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, United States. Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) ...
-
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
*
Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge
The Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge is located on the Illinois River in Mason County northeast of Havana, Illinois. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as one of the four ''Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuges''. ...
*
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is a 43,890 acre (180 km2) National Wildlife Refuge primarily in southwestern Williamson County, but with small extensions into adjacent eastern Jackson and northeastern Union counties of southern Illi ...
- including the
Crab Orchard Wilderness The Crab Orchard Wilderness is a parcel of land listed as a Wilderness Area of the United States. It is located within the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Williamson, Union, and Jackson counties in Illinois.
Second-growth wilderness
As ...
Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
The Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge is a newly established United States national wildlife refuge that will include noncontiguous properties, especially tallgrass prairie patches, wetland properties, and oak savanna parcels, located in the no ...
*
Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex The Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex was established for the protection of migratory birds including waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds. It is located along the Mississippi Flyway, one of the major routes for migrating waterfowl. Refug ...
*
Meredosia National Wildlife Refuge
The Meredosia National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge located along the Illinois River in Cass County and Morgan County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The refuge is adjacent to Meredosia, Illinois, but is managed by the U.S. Fi ...
*
Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge
The Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge is located on the Mississippi River downstream from St. Louis, Missouri. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
The re ...
*
Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge
The Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge is located on the Illinois River and the Mississippi River in parts of Calhoun County, Illinois, Calhoun, Jersey County, Illinois, Jersey, and Greene County, Illinois, Greene counties in Illinois, and St. Cha ...
National Park Service
The Parks Service operates the federally owned
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the Springfield, Illinois home and related historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th president of the United States. The presidential memorial inclu ...
in
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
Chicago Portage National Historic Site
The Chicago Portage National Historic Site is a National Historic Site commemorating the importance of the Chicago Portage in Lyons, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located in Chicago Portage Forest Preserve and the Ottawa Trail ...
is an NPS-affiliated site which is located in the
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are mostly set aside as natural areas ...
. In addition, the NPS partners with the
Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area
The Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area is a National Heritage Area in central Illinois telling the story of Abraham Lincoln. A National Heritage Area is a federal-designated area intended to encourage historic preservation and an appreciatio ...
.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
*
Carlyle Lake
Carlyle Lake is a reservoir largely located in Clinton County, Illinois, with smaller portions of the lake within Bond and Fayette counties. It is the largest man-made lake in Illinois, and the largest lake wholly contained within the state.
Hi ...
- of water and of public land
*
Illinois Waterway
The Illinois Waterway system consists of of navigable water from the mouth of the Calumet River at Chicago to the mouth of the Illinois River at Grafton, Illinois. Based primarily on the Illinois River, it is a system of rivers, lakes, and cana ...
*
Lake Shelbyville
Lake Shelbyville is a reservoir located in Shelby County, Illinois and Moultrie County, Illinois created by damming the Kaskaskia River at Shelbyville, Illinois. The lake's normal surface pool is at an elevation of . The area that surrounds the l ...
- lake and of land
*
Rend Lake
Rend Lake is a long, wide reservoir located in Southern Illinois in Franklin and Jefferson Counties near the town of Benton. It contains 18,900 acres (76 km2) of water, stores of water, and supplies over 15 million gallons of water per ...
- of water and of land
Wetlands (Ramsar Convention)
Areas
designated
Designation (from Latin ''designatio'') is the process of determining an incumbent's successor. A candidate that won an election for example, is the ''designated'' holder of the office the candidate has been elected to, up until the candidate's i ...
as wetlands of international importance under the
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...
:
*Cache River-Cypress Creek Wetlands
*Chiwaukee Prairie Illinois Beach Lake Plain (shared with Wisconsin)
*The Emiquon Complex
*Dixon Waterfowl Refuge
*Upper Mississippi (shared with Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin)
Current state parks
State parks are owned by the state and generally administered by the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines, ...
.
Historic preservation
Around 50 usually smaller sites concerning historic structures are owned by the state and administered by the
Illinois Historic Preservation Division
The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with the duty of m ...
, some of which may have a nature preservation component, including the
Cahokia
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south-w ...
World Heritage Site and
Lincoln's New Salem
Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site is a reconstruction of the former village of New Salem in Menard County, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. While in his twenties, the future U.S. President made his living in this vi ...
.
Local level parks
A variety of county and town protected areas exist in Illinois, including city park districts and county-wide Forest Preserve Districts, as well as land owned by private organizations. One of the largest systems is the
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are mostly set aside as natural areas ...
, which includes
Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of . It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recogni ...
and the
Chicago Botanic Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shore ...
as well as of open land, or 11.6 percent of Cook County’s land area. Most counties lack a public landholding agency, but below are the landholdings of such districts in Illinois:
*Boone County Conservation District -
*Byron Forest Preserve District -
*Champaign County Forest Preserve District -
*
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are mostly set aside as natural areas ...
-
*DeKalb County Forest Preserve -
*
Forest Preserve District of DuPage County The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is a governmental agency headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois. Its mission is to acquire and hold lands containing forests, prairies, wetlands, and associated plant communities or lands capable of being re ...
-
*Forest Preserve District of Kane County -
*Forest Preserves of the Kankakee River Valley -
*Kendall County Forest Preserve District -
* Lake County Forest Preserve -
*Macon County Conservation District -
*McHenry County Conservation District -
*Putnam Country Conservation District -
*Rock Island Forest Preserve District -
*Vermilion County Conservation District -
*
Forest Preserve District of Will County The Forest Preserve District of Will County was created by referendum on July 25, 1927, to preserve open spaces in Will County, Illinois, US. The first land acquisition was in 1930. , the District owns or manages of land. Current Will County board ...
Protected areas of the United States
The protected areas of the United States are managed by an array of different federal, state, tribal and local level authorities and receive widely varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness, while others are operated wi ...
by political division
, prefix = Protected areas of
*
Protected areas
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...